The Eyes of Death
by InsainePandas
Summary: Mary Carsh has the shinigami eyes, but not a Death Note. She's always had them, and now she's helping L catch Kira with them. Do you wanna know how this is possible? Read and Review! Eventually L/OC
1. Chapter 1

The Eyes of Death

Sugar Sweet

Ryuzaki "L" was sitting in that unique way of his on a chair in the hotel he was currently staying at. It's been the sixth since he arrived in Japan. He'd been here for a few weeks now, working with the now five members of the task force. Right now, he was reviewing the taps that Kira had sent to Sakura T.V. chewing on his thumb per usual. He really needed to quit such a habit as this.

Watari came in then, carrying a tray of sweets. "Did you look up her file, Watari?" L asked, his dark eyes taking in the sweets. The other members of the task force just glanced at him oddly. But that didn't stop them from all wondering what he was talking about.

"Yes. Right now, she is staying in L.A with her Aunt it seems."

"Hmm. Good, now go get me a phone." L reached for the strawberry shortcake: His favorite.

~.~

"Alright, let's get to work!" Amy Carsh said, her crowd of employees dispersing. Her twenty year old niece, Mary groaned and slumped down onto an overturned crate.

"Urgh! Why do I have to help you? Why did you have to be a freaking wedding planner?" she asked.

"Because I needed help and because I love weddings!" Amy grinned, her lavender eyes taking on a dreamy, far off look.

"Uh, right." Mary rolled her eyes, sweatdropping. "As long as I get paid, I'll help you I guess." She stood up as she said this, dusting off the back of her jeans.

Amy snapped back into reality at that, and exclaimed, "Oh, of course!"

With a sigh, Mary left the restaurant. There was something seriously wrong with her aunt, but if she hadn't decided she was going to live with her, she'd still be stuck in that orphanage in England. Either that or the streets anyway.

She plopped down onto the bench just outside the restaurant, and watched all the lively people as they past. Only, a few weren't so lively. Oh, they gave off the air of someone perfectly fine, and yet it was because of that that they did not have the slightest clue that they were soon going to die.

Mary knew, she always knew. She'd been cursed with the shinigami's eyes: The ability to see a person's name and life span, how they died, and by whom if murdered. Mary sighed, rubbing at her temple. This was why she considered her eyes to be cursed. Not only did she have to see the names and deaths of any person she past or touched, she had to suffer through migraine after migraine, along with other minor illness she had to deal with on a daily bases. She was not aware of how she came to possess such powers, and she didn't want to. They were always just there, for as long as she could remember, and Mary never forgot.

Her phone rang, causing her to jump. "Hello?" she answered hesitantly for the number was blocked.

"Mary Carsh?" The voice was mechanical, computer like.

"This is she."

"I am L."

_L?_ _That sounds familiar, _she thought. And then: "I remember you! You were that strange kid addicted to sweets!" She clamped a hand over her mouth. Oops, she hadn't meant to offend him.

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry, I just forgot momentarily, it's been a while," sighed Mary.

"I see. I have something to ask of you, Mary-chan. I need you to come to Japan. More importantly, I need your assistance with something."

_He needs my help? That's weird; from what I remember, he's never asked for my help before. Hmm, this might be interesting,_ Mary thought, highly intrigued now. "Okay, I suppose I could come. When?"

"Good. Your flight leaves tomorrow at 6am, if that's not a problem?"

"No, I guess not." _You won't be sleeping in tomorrow, Mary, _yay, _what fun that'll be. _

"Until then, Mary-chan." With that said, L hung up. Mary shrugged, stood up, and walked back into the restaurant. _Japan, here I come. _

Hot Japanese Boy

L was acting far stranger than normal, at least that was what the task force concluded. They might have thought it was just from the case, since they didn't know him all that well, it could have been. It wasn't. No, L was just excited, you could say, for Mary was coming. He was just excited in his own way, of course.

"Miss Carsh is here," Watari said. L got up from the chair and walked toward the door.

_Alright, here it is, the hotel L is staying in, _thought Mary as she stood in front of the hotel door. The door opened before her hand even touched the wood. It hovered there as she stared at the man she hadn't seen in over five years. She knew it was him from the bed-head, crazy black hair, onyx eyes, and slouching frame. The baggy jeans and long-sleeved white T only added to that. She smiled, and pointed a finger that had since been hovering in the air at him. "Panda-kun," she said. He did, in fact, resemble a panda. For a guy who hardly ever slept it was obvious from the dark, dark circles under his eyes.

L frowned. "Don't call me panda, Mary-chan."

"Right, so why am I here?" She closed the door and followed him into the room. There were five other men in the room, ranging from 25 to 50. It was clear from the suits they were wearing that they were cops. Mary blinked. L never, _ever_ revealed himself to the police, or even hardly contacted them. _What the hell is going on here?_

"You have heard of Kira, correct?" L asked as he crouched down on a chair.

"Hmm, yeah, why?"

"He is in the Kanto region of Japan, and that is why I have come here. I want you to watch these tapes with me, Mary-chan," he explained. That was when she saw the T.V in front of him.

She threw her bag on the floor and sat on the edge of the chair he was in. "Okay, why?"

Ryuzaki barely glanced at her. "I have a theory, and I want a second opinion."

"Fine, but answer me first: What's with the police? Last time I checked, you didn't involve yourself with the police."

"Hmm, yes, I normally don't, but this time I've acquired their assistance. Now, the taps." He picked up a remote and flicked on the T.V. In Gothic scripture was the word KIRA. Mary raised an eyebrow. She watched the video, feeling Ryuzaki's dark eyes watching her, possibly gauging her reaction. Well, he wasn't going to get one.

When the tap was done, L asked, "Well? What do you make of them?"

"Huh," was all Mary said. From what she'd heard about Kira, he only viewed those who did crimes as bad, not innocent people. But this "Kira" was different; _he killed a cop. There's a second Kira, _thought Mary, gnawing on her lip. "Clearly, there's a second Kira."

"What makes you think that?"

"The same thing that makes you think that, Ryu-chan." Mary rolled her eyes. "Really, Ryuzaki, stop with the tests. If you want my help, ask," she said.

"Then, will you help me?"

Mary stared him, black eyes staring into purple. "Okay, why not." Though she had a feeling she wouldn't be helping him in the way she thought.

Death in the Bedroom

_Clunk! Bam! Bang!_

Mary's eyes snapped open. What the hell? She sat up in her bed, staring into the semi-darkness ahead of her. The sun was just rising, peeking through the white lace curtains of the hotel room. She squinted, seeing-but mostly feeling-the shadowy figure. She was positive L was in the main room-so what was this? A spirit? Probably, Mary thought, annoyed. She did not want to deal with a ghost at the moment for she was a real grump when she first woke in the morning.

Then, when she finally recognized the shade, she openly gasped. A shinigami was in her bedroom-well, what she'd come to believe was a God of Death anyway. He-it? - didn't even look an ounce human; it was big, it was black, and it was grinning at her. Feeling immensely violated, she pulled the blanket up to her chin, and glared at the shimigami. She'd never before come in contact with one, but she'd learned from her mother that they were bad, real bad, though not for people like her. Mary had the same eyes as them, yet that was all they shared as far as abilities went. Besides, Mary was human; the thing standing in front of the door was not.

"What do you want, shinigami?" she asked, feeling quite annoyed at this point.

The shinigami just chuckled. "Hyku, what an interesting human." Then he floated through the wall. Mary shook her head. "Whatever," she mumbled, and swung out of the bed. Not bothering to change out of her black pj shorts and t-shirt, she ran a hand through her crazy, disheveled blonde curls and entered the main room. She nearly shrieked at what she almost collided into. The shinigami that had been in her room mere seconds ago. Fully aware she would not just go through him, Mary stepped to the side, something that did not go unnoticed by L-who had been watching her since she'd entered the room, nor a brown haired boy who looked seventeen or so. _Who the hell is he? _She thought: _And is he why this shimigami's here? _Mary vaguely knew the powers shinigami's possessed; such as the eyes and something called a Death Note, but she didn't know completely the rules in which they were implied.

"Ah, Mary-chan, this is Light Yagami-san; he will be joining the investigation as of now," L inquired to her.

"Oh, hi," she mumbled, waving lamely before shuffling into the small kitchen of the hotel room. It was time for her to get started on the cake she promised L she'd bake. She knew his fondness for sweets could only rival her own. Plus, she just really wanted cake.

Humming to herself, she ignored all the voices in the main room as she made the preparations for the strawberry shortcake she was making. As she opened the fridge, she frowned then growled lightly as she didn't see the bowl of clean-cut strawberries she knew she'd put there the night before. Mary never forgot. _Fine, _she thought_ you steal my strawberries; I steal your chance at getting strawberry shortcake. _ So, instead of preparing for strawberry shortcake, she made a chocolate fudge cake. And used splenda instead of real sugar. _Ha, take that, _she thought. Mary was a bit of a child when it came to pay-backs but that was part of the reason she and L got along so well.

Cutting a slice of cake for L, she walked back out into the main room. Ever since she'd arrived, mainly what L had been making her do was bake cakes. Amongst other sweets. Of course, that didn't surprise her as she'd suspected as such. Not that Mary cared; she'd much rather bake than plan weddings with her eccentric Aunt which meant being around people. Quite a lot of people: Mary wasn't a fan of crowds.

"Here ya go," she said to L as she placed the slice in front of him. He mumbled his thanks. _Bleh, _Mary thought, sticking out her tongue.

The second after L took a bite out of the cake, he immediately knew something was wrong. It taste…strange. Like the sugar used was different, he thought. "Mary-chan, is there something wrong with the sugar you used?"

"Nope," Mary replied, but he had the distinct feeling she was lying.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

Mary watched as he frowned, poking at the cake with his fork. She rolled her eyes. "I'm not making you another one, you know. You either eat or you don't_." L could be such a child! _thought Mary, exasperated.

"Did you perhaps use a sugar substitute?" he asked.

"Yes, I did. You're gonna have some kind of heart attack from all the sugar you consume if Kira doesn't get to you first." She stood next to him, her arms crossed.

"I will catch Kira before that happens."

"Yeah, but all this sugar is gonna catch up to you before that, so when you do have a heart attack or something, don't say I didn't warn you."

"My sugar intake is not a problem, Mary-chan, I am perfectly healthy."

Mary snorted. "I highly doubt that, you probably haven't been to a doctor in years; who knows how high your blood level is!"

"I assure you my blood level is normal; I just went to a doctor last year," he said.

"Yeah, sure, ya did. If you had, he would have suggested you stop with all the sugar!"

Across the room, Light leaned to the side and mock whispered, "Are they always like this?"

His father, Soichiro Yagami, answered, "They have been acting like this since Mary-san arrived."

"Why is she here anyway?"

"Ryuzaki says she can be a real help to the investigation, but all she's done so far is bake cakes for him. Though she did have the same theory as Ryuzaki when he tested her with the second Kira tapes."

"Oh."

Mary huffed. "The reason why I used 'fake' sugar as you so put it is because you stole my strawberries. I really wanted strawberry shortcake, as did you, but because you took them, that was not possible. So, apologize for taking them or I will from here on out use 'fake' sugar for your cakes."

He didn't say anything, and Mary knew he probably wouldn't. Well, she was fine with that. They were both stubborn, though L was more childish then stubborn, so she knew he wouldn't apologize, and he knew she would continue using fake sugar until he did. So, let the stubborn war begin!


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Well, hi. It's been, what, three years or so since I updated? Yeah, sorry about that. For the most part, I'd given up on this story because I couldn't think of anything, but I was looking at the past chapter for no real reason, and also because I'd recently started re-watching Death Note and was feeling the 'vibes' from it, I was like, hey, why not. And so this happened. So, to answer your question, though one year later, yes, Sarafinja, I haven't abandoned this story yet. Hopefully, I'll continue to update. I'm not sure how often or anything, but I plan to try. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note, but man, do I wish I did. **

_Boredom_

"Ahh, this is so boring!" Mary Carsh exclaimed, falling heavily against the couch. It had become annoyingly apparent early on that working with L meant staying locked up in the hotel room all day, because going outside could "endanger you." It also became apparent to the other members of the task force that Mary had some sort of attention deficit disorder: the girl seemed to bore easy and flited from one activity to the next with no real sense of focus.

The hotel room was currently filled with silence. Both Matsuda and Aizawa-san were asleep in the other room; Mogi-san and Yagami-san were running errands or something for L, and Light-kun was who-knew where. L himself was reviewing/creating the fake message from 'Kira.' He was the only one within hearing distance of Mary's complaints, but paid her no real attention.

"Why am I still even here?" she mumbled to herself, glaring up at the ceiling. "I mean, sure, Kira's a psychopathic dick-face and should be caught, but I'm about as useless as a shounen heroine at the moment. I could totally get murdered by Kira, and I'm not _doing_ anything." She sighed. "Maybe I should have just stayed in L.A. No, but then I'd be even _more _bored than right now. Can't even freaking _go _anywhere. Stupid panda-kun." Now her ramblings were filled with utter nonsense.

Part of her was just complaining because she wished for attention or suggestions that could quell her boredom, and the other part was because she had the ability to complain about anything and everything and did so frequently. But L barely spared the girl a glance; his thumb pressed against his mouth, he seemed glued to his computer screen. Mary had wanted to help with creating the message, but apparently making Light 'Kira' was a far better decision. And of course, L was right about that.

Light was weird. Okay, maybe not weird per say, but she didn't really like him. At all. He seemed like your average teenage, albeit a brilliant one, but that was the thing. He _seemed _like one; she didn't know if he was actually one or just an excellent liar. It was also due to the fact that, that shinigami hovered around him like a gnat whenever he was around. _That _was just downright freaky—and if she'd been allowed outside, she'd have better access to information about those gods of death. All she had was a shitty Wi-Fi connection and google, which only ever lead her to cult sites and other useless websites. At least she had her aunt, who Mary knew had a little knowledge about them, but who was also too "busy with work right now to talk."

So for the time being, Mary was stuck, bored, in a hotel room with a bunch of police officers and L, about as useless as a shounen heroine.

"You are not useless, Mary-chan," L said, interrupting Mary's monologue about her boredom.

She blinked, sitting up. "Huh? I make you cakes, Ryuzaki-kun. Cakes. I literally do nothing else but make you cakes, and sure, they're not really cakes cause they're made from splenda, but that's also all your fault for stealing my strawberries. And until you apologize for that, 'fake' cakes are all you're gonna get."

"They're delicious cakes, Mary-chan," he said instead of the apology she wanted.

"Still useless. Why can't I go outside again?"

"Too dangerous."

"I'm calling bullshit on that one, Ryuzaki-kun. I'm in no more danger outside than I am in here with who could be a potential serial murderer," she pointed out. "Actually, I'm really in more danger here."

L took his eyes from the screen, though he was still biting his thumb. "I'm surprised you suspect Light-kun as well, Mary-chan."

Mary rolled her eyes. "You really shouldn't be. Not only is it glaringly obvious that, that boy is probably the best actor I've ever met, the evidence makes him too…suspicious."

"You believe he's acting?"  
>"Hmm." She shrugged, pulling herself up into a position similar to his and seating herself on the arm of the couch. "Plus," here she leaned closer to where he sat, "my eyes are telling me something." This last part she whispered.<p>

L, for his part, didn't react. The young man merely nodded and accepted her reason as a statement of fact. It wasn't like he himself found her explanations for most things to be all that plausible. In fact, he dismissed almost everything she said because he knew most of it didn't hold any real worth. The girl liked to make up elaborate stories that may or may not hold some truth, and for the most part, knew what she was talking about when she was explaining something.

It was also, of course, because L knew, at least to some extent, about her 'eyes.' He'd compiled a theory over the years about them based off the comments she said about them and what she saw. He wasn't one hundred percent certain—maybe only one percent certain—but he thought he knew enough.

Besides, even if what she said _was _nothing but nonsense, it helped to have someone else aware of who Light may or may not be.

_The Fake Message_

L's computer screen blinked to life and a gothic W that signaled it was Watari appeared. Mary saw it seconds before his voice came through the speakers, and she bounced to where it sat.

_Finally, _she thought. _Something new._

"Ryuzaki, we have a reply from the second Kira," he said.

The task force startled to attention, focusing in on the laptop.

"I'll be bringing in the tape we received but in the meantime, I'll stream a copy here so you can view it on your end," Watari explained as the other members gathered around the computer, L settling into the chair in front of it. Mary perched on the chairs' arm.

The screen changed from the W to the name Kira, and a computerized voice began:

"Kira, thank you for your reply. Please do not worry, I will follow orders and do as you say."

"Ooh," Mary mumbled.

"Wow, it actually worked," remarked Matsuda.

"I really want to meet you," continued the second Kira, "I don't think you have the eyes."

Mary's eyes widened and she started so violently she almost fell off the chair. _The eyes? No way. Does that mean what I think it means? But what the hell would the eyes have to do with this? _Mary's gaze seemingly unconsciously roamed to where Light-kun stood behind her, to the shinigami hovering beside him. _Unless…_

She looked back to Light-kun, to see that he also had reacted somewhat. Her eyes narrowed. _Huh, interesting. Well, Light-kun, that's one more point for suspiciousness. _ Before anyone could notice her attention was on something else—before the ever attentive L could—she refocused on the message.

"But you don't have to worry, I would never try to kill you," the second Kira said.

_How would you do _that _anyway_?

"When we meet, we can confirm our identities by showing our shinigami to each other."

"No freaking way," Mary whispered as quietly as possible, but it didn't seem to matter as L's reaction covered it all:

He shouted "Ahhhh," and then tipped over the chair. Mary fell face first to the floor, L landing hard on top of her.

"Damn, Ryuzaki-kun, what the hell?" she hissed, her mouth shoved against the carpet, as Matsuda and Yagami-san rushed to help them up.

"Shinigami," L mumbled. "Am I supposed to believe they exist?"

Mary inwardly sighed, still stuck under L's bony frame. _Oh, panda-kun, if only you knew._

_Finally, Freedom!_

She practically broke out of the hotel room the next day, if one could break out of a hotel room. She woke early, waited until L fell asleep, crouched in that peculiar way of his in a chair, and then slipped out of the room before the others noticed. Endangered be dammed! Mary needed the fresh air. She'd barely glimpsed the city when she first arrived, knowing how L would have been such a pain in the ass if she'd been late, and so she hadn't wasted any time arriving at the hotel.

But now that she was free, she decided to do the whole tourist thing. Despiser of crowds or not, she was going to properly explore the city. She wasted the day away, ignoring all phone calls from L, instead only shooting Watari a quick text stating that she was okay and was spending the day by herself. She found several different cafés that served a tasty coffee or pastry, spent almost all the pocket money she had on her on sweets or manga, and ended the day sitting in a restaurant, watching the people who walked by. She couldn't help but notice—and feel slightly depressed at times—when she saw a young child or even someone her age whose lifespan was close to extermination. It was always terrible to come across a kid who was going to die soon, and those people were usually the ones who would die in a tragic accident. But because she'd been dealing with it since she was a child, she was condition to take it in and then dismiss it seconds later. She didn't want to deal with these emotional attachments to strangers—if she had, she probably would have fallen into some sort of depression a long time ago. So being almost apathetic was ideal.

By the time she got back to the hotel, night had already fallen. The task force members, plus Light-kun, were gathered around L, who was reading off a paper in his hands. She didn't bother to apologize for her absence—if L wouldn't for stealing her strawberries, then she sure as hell wasn't going to for going outside—and was soon caught up on where they were on the case. The second Kira had sent a diary this time, and they had planned on sending Light-kun and Matsuda to Aoyama as well as stationing police at Shibuya.

"Mary-chan, since you seem to feel useless at the moment, why don't you go to Aoyama as well," L suggested, much to Mary's irritation. But she was glad for the chance to _do _something, no matter how small it may be, so she agreed anyway.

"How was your day out?" L asked her sometime later when the two were, for the most part, alone.

"I wasn't bored for that long," she said, sipping at a coffee that had gone stone cold and had too much milk in it. "Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. I bought a whole bunch of candy at this store in Shibuya, I think it was. I didn't really pay any attention to street signs or directions in general. You don't get any," she said pointedly, watching him closely. He didn't seem to react to it at all, but Mary knew he was somewhat peeved.

"And, ya know, I came back in one piece, so I didn't…there was something," she trailed off. Despite having perfect recall, when Mary became distracted by something, such as sweets or her new obsession of manga, she often forgot her original intention for doing things. And what she had forgot, though she had as of yet to remember it, was that she had meant to find out more about shinigami.

_Bing!_

It was as if a light bulb went off in her head—and suddenly she remembered.

"AHHH! Dammit, I can't believe I forgot something so important like that!" she exclaimed, smacking herself in the forehead. "I wonder if Amy's not so busy right now," and she was off on her nonsensical rambles, having forgotten, apparently, the sixteen hour time difference, and that her Aunt was probably just getting ready for bed.

L, as he always did, when Mary-chan started on her monologues, ignored her completely, putting more attention on his cake than he did on her.

* * *

><p>A few days later, and a grumbling Mary was seen walking the streets of Aoyama with a group of Light-kun's friends. As said before, crowds were not good to Mary, and already she was beginning to get a headache. Her eyes really could be a pain in the ass.<p>

Light-kun's popularity only seemed to make the young girl even more suspicious. To her, it was further proof that the boy was a world-class liar. _Well, at any rate, _she mused, staring at the back of his head, _he'd make a damn good con-man. Or maybe he's some sort of sociopath? Hmmm._

To her dismay, nothing truly exciting happened during their time at Aoyama. She could say that the only interesting thing that happened was the spotting of another shinigami. It was by pure chance that Mary saw the god of death. She'd glanced away from watching Light-kun at exactly the right time, just so happened to look through the window of a café called Blue Note, and saw a massive white creature hovering behind a geeky looking school girl. One shinigami was weird enough, two was certainly no coincidence. But she still didn't know enough about them to provide a working theory as to why a god of death would be residing in the human realm.

Mary's eyes narrowed a fraction and she stopped in her tracks, staring now at the girl. _There's no life span…_ _That _was new. Never before had she encountered someone without a life span. Unless she counted her mother and her Aunt, but with that, she'd just assumed it had to do with blood relatives because neither her mother nor Aunt had the eyes. She didn't know how to handle this new information, but she knew that standing there on the street staring at someone wasn't the best idea.

The others weren't that far ahead of her, and neither, it seemed, had the girl or the shinigami noticed her gawking, so Mary shook herself mentally and jogged to catch up with the others.

_Now I really need to talk to Amy._

_Any Info Will Do_

"I'm happy to say that I have found Kira. Thank you to all the people at the television station and the police department."

_When_? _It had to have happened in Aoyama,_ Mary concluded, absorbed in her thoughts about what she'd seen there. _I don't know how, but it did, and that shinigami was involved. _She decided right then and there that it was imperative she talk to her Aunt, and now.

Ignoring the others, she whipped out her phone and dialed Amy's number, knowing and not caring that she was probably still asleep.

"Hello?" yawned a sleepy Amy after the third ring.

"I need to know about shinigami," Mary said in German, her Aunt's native tongue and so no one except maybe L—who she was sure knew at least more than three languages—would know what she was talking about. Like she thought, L glanced at her, but otherwise didn't comment.

"Mary? You do realize it's three in the morning over here. What did you say you needed that's apparently so urgent you had to wake me up in the middle of the night?"

"Shinigami," Mary repeated, retreating to the far side of the room. She suddenly didn't want L to hear; there was only so much she was willing to tell the man.

"Shinigami?" She heard a rustling sound, and guessed that her Aunt was getting out of bed. "You know I don't know much about them. And what exactly are you doing over there that you need to know about them?"  
>Mary sighed. "It's complicated," she said, "but long story short, I've seen two of them in the two months I've been here."<p>

There was dead silence on Amy's end. "You've seen them?" she whispered after a moment.

"Yeah. That's a bad thing, isn't it?"

Her Aunt heaved out a shaky breath. "Not necessarily, but I do know for sure that it can't be a good thing. They're gods of _death, _Mary."

"And I have the shinigami eyes," Mary said, nodding to herself. "I know. I also saw a girl whose life span I couldn't see."

There was another sound on her Aunts' side, one that sounded like she was opening a door. "That I may be able to tell you something about."  
>"Really? What?"<p>

"Well, according to what your father once told me, those like you aren't able to see each other's life span. I'm not sure why, and if he did, he never told me."

Mary was practically bouncing with excitement now. "So you mean there are others like me? I mean, I figured there had to be somewhere in the world, but I never entertained the idea of it before."

"Yes, Mary, there are others," Amy laughed. "I can't tell you much, though. Your father never explained much to either of us, sadly. Do these shinigami you've been seeing have anything at all to do with that Kira person L's investigating or is this merely curiosity on your part?"

"Possibly both," said Mary, glancing toward the others, specifically at what she'd now dubbed as Light-kun's shinigami. "I haven't really figured that one out yet. I'm working on it. Is there anything you know about them though? I remember you having books on it?"

"One book really," Amy said. "I can't really even decipher most of it. I'm not sure why your father even gave it to me and not you…"

"Can you send it to me? The only thing I remember about them is what mom told me. The whole 'you share the same eyes, they're not dangerous to people like you—though I _still _don't have any idea about how that's even possible—and that thing about a Death Note.' Whatever the hell that is," she said.

"Death Note, Death Note," her Aunt mumbled. "I know I've heard that before, but I can't remember where."

"Ah, must be your old age," Mary joked.

"Ha. Ha. Ha," Any deadpanned. "Very funny, Mary. But I suppose I could send it. I'll try to run by the post office sometime this week. I've got to send off some invitations anyway, so I'll do it then."

"_Danke. _You seriously have no idea how bored I've been lately. All L's been having me do is make him cake! And while I'm all for that, I can't just sit around all day, doing that. Well, I have seen those shinigamis and that no-life-span-possibly-someone-like-me chick, but otherwise, not much."

"How are you doing, Mary? Be serious," Amy said, as if she hadn't just told her how bored she'd been. But her Aunt had that motherly instinct of always knowing when something was wrong just by the sound of her voice.

Mary sighed. "Alright for the most part. Like I said, really bored. And apparently I could die going after Kira as I am at the moment. I suppose L has a point, but I know I'm not about to die anytime soon, so that's not something I'm really going to worry about at the moment. Otherwise, I've only had a few headaches and an annoying cough that doesn't want to leave. And sure, people watching isn't healthy for me, but I only saw a couple of kids whose lives were ending soon, and I got over that pretty soon anyhow."

"And how much sugar have you been consuming?"

"Way too much, but I expected that, living with a guy whose diet consists of only sweets. I'm alright, Amy, really," Mary reassured, "Don't worry so much."

"I only let you go to Japan because I know you were getting bored with me. That and frankly you were beginning to get on my nerve about that—"

"Ha, ha," Mary interjected dryly.

"—and because I figured with L you'd be fine. But I don't want you to do anything stupid or dangerous, Mary."

"Hai, hai," Mary said, switching back to Japanese for no other reason than because she was beginning to bore of using German. "I'll be fine. Thanks again, Amy. I'll call you later."

Amy sighed. "I'm serious, Mary."

"I know."

She hung up after that, and Mary clutched the phone to her chest, sighing loudly. Well, at least now with new information about shinigami coming, she wouldn't be bored anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Damn, I'm on a roll. Two in two days. This won't happen often...guess I was just 'feeling' it or something. Well, anyhow. Enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note.**

_The Book of Death_

"You're going to do _what _now?"

L dropped several cubes of sugar into his coffee, decided it wasn't enough even though he had yet to sample it, and instead popped three more into his own mouth. "I have decided to arrest Misa Amane as the second Kira," he said, still chewing/sucking on the sugar. "There were several pieces of her hair in the evidence we collected from the tapes. I don't see why this is shocking to you, Mary-chan, you yourself agreed to it."

Mary-chan sighed, gnawing on her bottom lip, a habit as severe as L's thumb biting. "I know, but…"

L looked at her, _really _looked at her, and came to the conclusion that she knew something he didn't. "What is it?"

"Nothing yet," she said. It was a lie, and he knew it.

_What are you hiding, Mary-chan? _He wondered, giving his coffee a stir. He sat in what Mary-chan would probably dub a petulant silence, staring into the blackness of his coffee. She didn't say anything else; at least not for the first few moments, and he knew it was only a short matter of time before she couldn't stand the quiet anymore.

"ARGH!" He watched as she threw her hands up dramatically in the air and then stomped over to where he sat. "Fine. I'll tell you." He turned his gaze upward, practically making a study of her facial expressions as she spoke. "I'm still not sure who this Misa chick is, or really why she's a suspect, and maybe I should have paid more attention to that when you were talking about it earlier so I wouldn't be confused now, but you were boring me there a little so I couldn't concentrate. And, of course, Light-kun will probably have the same treatment done to him…"

"What makes you say that?" He knew why she thought that, just like he also knew there was more to it than mere suspicion.

She rolled her eyes. "Please, Ryuzaki-kun, I'm not even going to bother responding to that. We both know the evidence speaks for itself. It's not that, it's something else." She paused, seemed to collect herself mentally and then leaned in close to his ear to whisper, "It's the eyes."

L frowned, bringing his thumb to his mouth. "What about them?" The only eyes in regards to the Kira case that he could think of was the strange comment from the second Kira, but that had been almost a month ago, and had been dismissed soon after the remark was made. She'd mentioned eyes before, but he hadn't really understood the meaning behind them then either.

"That I'm not a hundred percent sure on yet," she said, straightening. "But I'll make sure to tell you when I do."

"Make sure that you do," he mumbled monotonously, and began to stack the sugar cubes in front of him.

* * *

><p>The shinigami book arrived the day before Misa Amane's arrest. Watari delivered it to Mary early that morning and she hurried to her room to read it. While she didn't distrust the task force members—unless you were to count Light-kun—she knew Matsuda would probably be the one to inquire to her as to what it was.<p>

When she opened the book, she realized how her Aunt had found it so difficult to understand. The writings were a chaotic, indescribable jumble of symbols and words and letters that seemed to be from another world. And she supposed it made sense that it probably _was _from another universe, given it was a book about creatures unknown in the human realm.

There were, however, several post-it notes stuck to the first few pages, her Aunt's meticulous handwriting explaining what little she'd found.

"Ah, good old, reliable Amy," Mary muttered to herself.

Though her Aunt hadn't found much, it was enough for Mary to use as a starting point. Amy had even explained—as brief and more than a little confusing as it was— on how to 'Read' it. There was a code of some kind, her Aunt said, combining the symbols and letters to match up with the words. But it was complicated and on every new page the code theorem changed to something different, though the basis was still the same.

Mary may have lacked the great intellect of L—and maybe even Light-kun if she really wanted to think about it—but she was far from average, and had more intelligence than most full-grown, well-educated adults. She already knew that deciphering this thing was going to be difficult and rather time consuming, but she liked a challenge. And besides, at least she wouldn't succumb to the boredom she'd been enduring before.

There were three rules on the first two pages that her Aunt had described, though the detailed explanations had been too complicated for her to fully translate.

_**Rule # 1:**_

_**The shinigami whose notebook has been given to a human owner must stay with the new owner until their death.**_

"Notebook?" Mary wondered out loud. "Does that mean a Death Note or? And just what the hell is a Death Note anyway? I mean, the name alone gives it away, but it has to be more than that. Does it kill people? Is it an actual notebook or is it a euphemism for something else?"

**_RULE # 2:_**

**_If a human uses a death note, its shinigami owner must appear in front of the human within 39 days after she or he uses it._**

_Well, that doesn't tell me anything, _she thought, skimming through what must have been other rules that had yet to be decoded, and came to a stop at the last rule her Aunt had written down once her head began to pound from the confusing array of symbols and words.

_**Rule # 43**_

_**A shinigami must give a human the Death Note if entering the human world. They are, however, allowed to kill the human for any one reason, thus enacting rule # 1. There are no real rules regarding what a shinigami can or cannot say to the human they are possessing but they cannot give that human the names and lifespans of other humans.**_

Mary shut the book with a sigh, tracing designs onto the books' strange cover. Strange because the binding used was unlike anything Mary had seen before. The book itself was rather slim; though flipping through the pages, she saw it was oddly longer in length than expected.

"Well, that was…useless," she mumbled. "What kind of book _is _this anyway? It reads like an instruction manual or something. At least it mentions a Death Note, whatever that is. And that it's more likely that it _does _kill people. But,_ how_, is the question." Biting hard on her lower lip, she snatched the pink notebook from the bedside table, flipped to a clean page, and got to work.

* * *

><p>Mary-chan emerged from her room at exactly three a.m.<p>

L knew this only because he'd happened to glance at the clock on the wall at the right time. Her normally perfectly coiled golden curls were disheveled and as wild as Ls' own hair usually was. She'd taken out the purple colored contacts she always wore, and her naturally green eyes were red and strained, as if she'd spent too long in front of a brightly lit computer screen. She'd been in her room since early that morning, and he could only imagine what she'd been doing. Actually, he couldn't; or rather, he'd barely noted her absence. Oh, he _knew _she'd locked herself away since Watari brought her a package, but he hadn't really been keeping track of her.

He trusted her—for the most part, anyway—and ultimately made the decision that what she'd been doing probably wasn't suspicious enough for him to be bothered.

"Are you okay, Mary-chan?" he asked, if only for the polite factor and not actual concern.

"Hrumph," she grumbled, sitting down next to him on the sofa. "I feel like I just got hit by a two-by-four. Do you think Watari would have any eye drops? I've just spent the last twenty or so hours trying to decipher a language—at least I think it was a language—I don't speak."

L stared at the girl beside him, unaware—or perhaps simply not caring—that what he was doing so openly was often seen as rude. "You look terrible, Mary-chan," he stated bluntly, bracing his hands against his knees.

"Gee, thanks, Ryuzaki-kun," she said dryly. "I don't know whether I should be insulted by that or not…where is Watari anyway?" she mumbled, glancing around the room as if she'd somehow missed him.

"He should be back soon," he replied, still staring, but it seemed Mary-chan hadn't noticed. Either that, or, L thought, she was probably used to his…eccentrics and little quirks and didn't care.

She made an affirmative sound in the back of her throat, rubbing at her eyes. "So you're apprehending Misa Amane tomorrow? Or would that technically be later today?"

"Yes. I suspect she may try to contact Light-kun at his university tomorrow," he said.

"And you're actually planning to go out in public? Wow, Ryuzaki-kun, I'm impressed."

"I do go outside sometimes, you know."

Mary-chan rolled her eyes. "Yeah, to sweet shops or something."

They sat in comfortable silence, her staring seemingly off in her own head somewhere, and he still attempting to work out what she had been doing. _A different language,_ he mused, _one she doesn't know. Mary-chan knows quite a few of those, though, eight if I'm not incorrect. She said she was 'looking into it' when I asked about the eye comment. Is that what she was doing? What kind of research does that include? Kira can kill by what is probably supernatural means, and even I have a difficult time understanding that. Mary-chan seems to think the eye reference is more important, is involved in this case. There is the fact that her own eyes are different…even though I'm still not sure _how _different. She does believe in otherworldly beings, so I suppose it's possible…_

"Ryuzaki-kun," Mary said, pulling him from his theories.

L blinked. "Yes?"

"Can I go with you tomorrow?" she asked, and something in her voice seemed off to him; it was almost…nervous. As if she were afraid he'd reject her.

"I suppose so," he said. "Are you getting bored already?"

"Eh, well, I guess there's that too…but no. I…" Here she paused, considering her words. To L, this was slightly suspicious. More than likely, the next words out her mouth would be a lie. "I have a theory that I can't tell you about yet, because I want to make sure I'm right first."

That certainly wasn't what he was expecting. It was the truth, for one—not that he necessarily _expected _her to lie—and she wasn't hiding it this time.

_Caught_

"Wow, so this is what a university looks like," Mary muttered to herself as she and L walked through the campus before settling down on a bench to wait for Light-kun to finish class. "It's very…hmm, what's a good word? Dull." She pulled out a box of strawberry flavoured pocky from her messenger bag and nibbled on one.

"It can be simple," L agreed, watching as she ate. Rather, he was eyeing the box of pocky. "Mary-chan…"

"Nope," she said before he could ask. "No pocky for you."

"You have plenty there," he reasoned.

Mary gave him a sideways glance. "Nope."

"Sharing is caring?"

"You don't share, I don't share," Mary said finally, and the two left it at that.

She glanced up just as Light-kun was approaching, a dark haired girl walking beside him. She watched L greet him with a fake smile and wave, and nearly sighed out loud at how painfully obvious he was being. _Though I suppose that's the whole point, isn't it?_

She closely studied the brown haired genius, on the lookout for anything unusual in his facial expressions as he reacted to L's being there. His almost intense glare and hard scowl were evident that he was, in fact, pissed off at seeing them there. More particularly L, as he had barely spared Mary a fleeting glance. For some reason, that offended her—the lack of recognition as a problem, and therefore an equal, peeved her—but not enough that she was going to respond to it.

Light-kun was a damn good actor, for besides the angry look, he betrayed nothing. "Will you give us a second? I need to speak to him alone," Light-kun asked of his female friend.

_Even his freaking _voice _betrays nothing! Damn, he's good. _

Mary barely heard the exchange between the two men, so focused she was on reading the younger boy before her, and it wasn't until she heard the words, "I'm craving shortcake," from L did she perk up.

"I second that," she said, standing up after L, and easing into the conversation as efficiently as if she'd been listening all along. She'd gotten nothing from the guy, and she was almost sulking in disappointment when a very feminine voice called out from behind them:

"Light-kun! There you are; I finally found you!"

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Light-kun's eyes widen, and she zeroed in on that as both he and L turned to the girl behind them. _Ooh, what's this, Light-kun? Emotion? I think so! Now, what's freaking you out so much…._

"Oh, they must be friends of yours," said the girl, who Mary had yet to turn around to see. "Hi! I'm Misa Amane, Light-kun's girlfriend! Nice to you meet you."

_Misa Amane? The second Kira? _

Mary finally turned to look at the newcomer—

_Holy…No lifespan…wait a minute… _Mary glanced up about an inch from the petite blonde girls' head, and saw, in bright red, her name and lack of lifespan. _Misa Amane…I _knew _I recognized that name from somewhere! The girl from Aoyama..._she's _the second Kira? Then the shinigami…_

And there it was, the giant white creature hovering beside the girl, just as Light-kuns' was beside him.

"I'm Hideki Ryuga," she dimly heard L say, and she calmly slipped in a "Mary Evans";her fake name, of course.

Mary wondered if this Misa girl was now actually seeing L's _real _name above his head and—

_Oh, fuck! _

If Light-kun was Kira, and if Misa Amane was the second Kira, and she had the eyes, and Kira needed a face _and _a name to kill and now they had Kira's sworn enemy's', then…then…

_This is bad. This is really, really bad. How the hell do I fix this? Wait, no, calm down, Mary. Misa's about to be apprehended soon. She can't do anything there; that's right, this is going to be okay. _

Although Mary felt on the verge of a panic attack, outwardly she plastered a friendly smile on her face that felt slightly strained even to her. She didn't want to know what Light-kun was thinking right now, but she had the feeling that whatever it was—if he was, in fact, the true Kira—it probably wasn't anything good.

L said something about how lucky Light-kun was because Misa was famous or something, and then a crowd formed around them. Again, Mary was lost in her own thoughts about the whole situation and only snapped out of it when Misa shrieked:

"Oh, my god! Someone just touched my butt!"

_What? _Mary glanced over at L, who seemed highly suspicious with his hand up and a weird expression on his face. _Oh, Panda-kun, you didn't. _Mary sighed for real then. She knew he wasn't a _real _pervert and that whatever his real motive was it wasn't in the least bit perverse, but still. The guy could go too far sometimes.

She watched, amused and somehow horrified at the same time, as her friend shouted some nonsense about "finding the culprit." "Why, L, why?" she whispered, smacking her hand against her forehead.

_Oh thank the gods, _Mary thought when what was probably Misa's manager appeared to drag her away. The fans around them dispersed, leaving her, L, and Light-kun alone.

"Finally. That was annoying," she said. "Can we get going already?"

"Yes," L agreed.

The two of them turned to go when Light-kun said, "You two go on ahead. I have to use the restroom."

"Oh, okay."

_Use the restroom my ass, _Mary thought as she and L walked off. She knew, just knew, that Light-kun had a plan up his sleeve, though she didn't know what. After a 'mishap' with a phone—where Mary figured out just what L had done to Misa—L announced to Light-kun that Misa Amane was suspected of being the second Kira and had been arrested. Again, the neutral expression on Light-kun's face gave away nothing as to what Mary knew he had to be feeling.

_The Decision To Be Made_

_ Okay, here's what I know, _Mary thought, settling onto her bed. _Misa Amane has the eyes, like I do, but it's probably not for the same reason I have the eyes. Not from the information I managed to squeeze from that book. _

She flipped to the pages in her notebook that detailed her findings in the shinigami book.

_**Rule # 31:**_

_**A human who becomes the owner of the Death Note can, in exchange for half of his or her remaining life span, acquire the power of the shinigami eyes. The shinigami must offer this deal within the first three days of meeting. It does not matter if the human accepts the deal or not.**_

She had been able to—by sheer force of will—translate a quarter of the book in the day or so since she received it. So far, the information she'd gathered spoke little of the Death Note and more of what the Shinigami were allowed to do while in the human world. She had, through deductive reasoning, come to the conclusion that a Death Note was exactly what the name implied: A notebook of Death. She'd come up with the theory that if you wrote a name in a Death Note, the human would die. It was the only thing that made sense.

_Kira and the second Kira both have Death Notes, and Misa Amane has the eyes so she doesn't even _need _a name, just the face. _Mary was slightly disappointed that Misa wasn't like her: born with the shinigami eyes, and had instead done something so completely stupid she still had trouble comprehending it. _Who gives up half their lifespan for _this? _The eyes are a pain! How does she not see that? _

So she knew how Kira was killing, who Kira most likely was—though L had suspected this for a while now so she didn't really count that—but what she didn't have was physical _proof. _She needed to get her hands on a Death Note, Misa's or Light-kuns. _Only one thing to do, _she thought, standing.

She had to tell L.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:Damn, I'm sure on a role with this. Hmmm, wonder why...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note, only Mary-chan. *sigh***

_The Past Turns to the Present_

L had unusual sleeping patterns. It wasn't that he never slept—and it was extremely obvious from the dark circles under his eyes that he was an insomniac—he just couldn't be bothered with a healthy eight hour sleep schedule during a case. He also had a habit of sleeping in the same crouched position as he sat.

Mary knew all of this—though she still marveled at the posture he took when sleeping—and so she wasn't surprised that he was still up, watching the monitors, when she walked into the main room at around two a.m. She was glad of his weird sleeping habits, and yet simultaneously she felt dread pooling in her stomach. While she would tell him about—well, everything—spilling her secrets, even to someone she'd known for years, wasn't something she could do easily.

After Light-kun had announced that he "could be Kira" and had been put in confinement like Misa Amane, Yagami-san, much to Mary's surprise, asked to be confined as well. She had to admit that there was something admirable about Soichiro Yagami's dedication to his son's innocence. _He's probably the only one around here with any real sense_, she decided now that she thought of it. Even if his son _is_ Kira. _L would do almost anything to solve a case_, she mused as she wandered into the kitchen. _I'll back him up on almost everything; Matsuda supports Kira...Light-kun probably is Kira...and Yagami-san just wants to catch the guy without breaking the law... Yup, definitely the only real one with any sense._

She'd been clutching her notebook tightly against her chest but now she exchanged it for a bag of sugar. To ease any sort of tension/awkwardness that may occur when she had her tell-all with L—and because she was honestly just procrastinating—she'd decided to bake his favorite cake. With real sugar this time.

She heard L shifting around in the main room but didn't pay much attention to it until he appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. She glanced up at him; he didn't say anything, she didn't either, not even when he came up behind her. He was maybe an inch taller than her—at least when he was slouching he was—and so he stood almost head-to-head with her as he looked over her shoulder. She noticed him eyeing the strawberries she'd set out with particular interest and she moved them farther from his reach.

"Nuh- uh, you aren't stealing my strawberries again," she said, slapping his hand away when he tried grabbing one of them. "Unless you want Splenda again?"

The small twist to his mouth and the disgust in his black eyes told her that clearly he didn't.

"Then it wouldn't be cake anymore," he murmured in that soft monotone voice of his.

"Exactly. You are capable of being patient, aren't you?"

"Hmm." He didn't move, but he didn't try to steal her fruit again.

Mary felt his eyes on her movements as she prepared the shortcake. She figured he was probably watching her to make certain she wouldn't use the sugar substitute again. It wasn't necessarily a sign of distrust; it was just how the quirky detective was.

She pushed away the notebook subtly, slow little movements so he wouldn't notice. His curiosity would uncover the truth before she said it, she knew, and she didn't want to spoil that. She wanted him to listen first, and only listen, then ask her his questions later.

"We've known each other for a long time, right, Ryuzaki-kun?" she said, starting in on something she wasn't sure would work like she hoped.

"Fourteen years," he replied, looking at her face now.

"And we trust each other? Mostly," she added. She knew as well he did that neither of them could probably ever fully trust one another, if not for the lies they told then the secrets they hid from each other.

"Yes. What are you getting at, Mary-chan?"

"So you'd believe me if I told you something that seemed completely unbelievable," she said, searching for a cake pan so she didn't have to look at his face.

"Yes."

Despite his rather empty tone of voice, Mary knew him well enough to be able to tell when he was curious, or cautious or whatever. So she knew then that he was speaking the truth—and because she was hardly being subtle about it, that he was also probably highly curious.

"Good," she said, pouring the batter in the pan before placing it in the oven. "Are you planning on hovering for the entire twenty minutes, Lawliet?"

"Don't call me by my name, Mary."

She rolled her eyes. "We're alone, in probably the securest hotel in all of Japan—because I know you wouldn't have stayed here if you hadn't made sure it was the safest place available. You're safe."

"I'm not that paranoid," L responded. "There are safer hotels in the area."

"Are you hovering or not?"

He scratched one foot with the other, shoving his hands in his pockets, his way of relaxing while standing, and mumbled, "Only if you don't call me by name."

"Well in that case… Law—"

He moved swiftly across the small space, and clamped a somewhat cool hand across her mouth. "Really, Mary-chan," he said, feigning hurt, "can't you ever listen to orders?"

She shook her head and—because she knew the man was a bit of a clean freak—licked the palm of his hand so he'd let go. Like she thought, he snatched his hand away in disgust, wiping his palm against his jeans. She grinned at the narrowed gaze he sent her way.

They settled into a comfortable silence, L watching over her shoulder as she whipped up the icing and toppings for the cake. He was standing so close to her that she could feel him breathing down her neck. It was more than a little nerve wracking to have him so close like that. She knew he had no real concept of personal space, but still…the guy could stand to be a little more considerate. Thinking on it, the whole situation brought her back to when they were both at the orphanage, when he used to watch her as she baked sweets. In a weird way, you could argue that was how they became friends. They were about four years apart and despite that age difference, they had gotten along well enough at Wammy's. If only because she used to make cakes and other deserts for him.

Mary had arrived at Wammy's at the young age of six and to this day she couldn't exactly recall how she'd gotten there. She knew, of course, why she'd been at such a place: her mother had died recently, and her father had soon gone MIA afterword. She hadn't known then about Amy, an Aunt she'd never met before. When she first met L, she thought he was…weird, for lack of a better term. Wickedly brilliant, but weird.

The young boy had fascinated her. So much so that she used to trail alongside him wherever he went; even when he seemed downright rude to her—though he hadn't seen it as so—she stayed by his side. Though they hardly spoke to each other—L because he couldn't be bothered with small talk, and Mary because she'd become a self-proclaimed mute for the first three years at the orphanage—they had managed, somehow, to form a bond through their love of sweets, and childish nature.

The memories of her scurrying after the young L like some love-sick puppy brought a smile to her lips, even if it was cringe worthy to think about. It was like she'd been some kind of fangirl, following him like she had; albeit a fangirl to a boy made unpopular to most of the female population from his terrible social skills.

_And yet here I am, five years since I left Wammy's, following after him at him at the drop of a hat. I mean, who does that? Fangirls, that's who. _

The oven timer dinged sometime later, and once it was cool enough, Mary spread the icing and strawberries on top, and then she brought it out into the main room, L trailing behind. She placed it on the small coffee table and made sure they both had a slice before sitting herself down on the couch. L sat in the chair opposite.

"You have something to tell me," he said, and like it always seemed to be with him, it came out as a statement of fact and nothing more.

Mary sighed. "Sometimes I really do wish you weren't as smart as you are. Then again, I guess you _would _be more boring that way." She took a too big bite of cake, relishing in the sweet taste—and using the time it took to chew to gather her thoughts into something less than the chaotic mess it was before. Her notebook sat next to her, and she knew at some point she would hand it over to him to go over. She also knew that if he believed her—which she had the feeling he would, given that Kira's killing power was something in the realm of the impossible—he could help her decipher the rest of the book.

_The Truth Always Reveals Itself_

"Okay," she said, more to herself than to L, who was waiting for her to speak, his attention solely on her. "Like I said before, it's a bit not normal, to the say the least. And it's pretty personal. Well, I guess I could omit that part, but really I probably shouldn't." She took a deep breath before spilling her darkest secret to her best friend: "I was born with the shinigami eyes. And—" Here she held up a hand, effectively stopping him from asking the questions she knew he would. "Questions later, please, L. Just, listen first, okay?" He nodded and she continued. "Okay, now, you're wondering what the shinigami eyes even are. They're pretty self-explanatory actually. But before that, you have to know that shinigami do, in fact, exist and that they are involved with how Kira is able to kill. I know this because I've seen them.

"Usually, humans aren't able to see them, but I'm pretty sure there are special circumstances that sometimes allow them to. I haven't figured that one out yet, but I was hoping you could help me on that. More on that later. Anyway, a shinigami's eyes are able to see the lifespan—yes, they can _see _when a human is going to die—and the real name of any human they look at. So can I. That's what the shinigami eyes mean. I was born with them, I've had them for as long as I could remember, but I don't know where they came from. I mean, I know my father had them as well, but since he left before I could ask him much, I don't know much about either them or shinigami. Until I came to Japan, I'd never even s_een _one before.

"Now, on to how these gods of death are contributing to Kira's ability to kill."

Here she paused, both to catch her breath and reach for her notebook. She couldn't look at his face, fearful of what she'd see. Or what she wouldn't. "It's called a Death Note. And what little I know about shinigami is more compared to what I know about Death Notes. Which is almost nothing, by the way. I've got this book about shinigami that my dad had, which he gave to my Aunt instead of me for some reason—it was that package Watari delivered to me a couple days ago—and it explains some of what a Death Note is. I mean, it probably says more, but the thing is ridiculously codded, and deciphering it is difficult as hell. But I've managed to come to the conclusion that a Death Note is nothing more than a notebook that can kill people. I'm assuming you have to write down the name of the person or something similar. Maybe there's more to it. I don't know." Mary flipped open the notebook to the page about Death Notes and handed it to L, who she still refused to look directly at. He took it from her and she spoke on as he read through her notes.

"And, as you'll see in there somewhere, shinigami are also able to give humans the shinigami eyes through some kind of deal. Misa Amane had or still has—I'm not sure on that at the moment—the eyes because she made the trade and Light-kun did not. I couldn't see her lifespan, and only those with the eyes are unable to see the lifespans of those with them. So, yeah, I believe Kira has a Death Note and that is how he has been able to kill," she concluded lamely, gaze drawn to the floor. She pulled her bottom lip into her mouth and started gnawing on it.

L was silent for so long Mary was worried he wouldn't believe her—or worse, think she'd had something to do with Kira all along. She didn't know how he would draw that conclusion, but at this point she was so nervous about his reaction that she couldn't think rationally. Her heart was pounding hard against her chest, her palms were growing cold, and she squeezed her eyes shut as if that would somehow soften the blow of whatever was to come.

"Mary-chan," L said softly, at what seemed like an eternity later, and her head snapped up so fast she heard something crack. He was staring right at her, his normally blank eyes filled with something she couldn't discern. _Was that…concern maybe? No, that's not it…it's different than that…what is it?_

"Y-yes?" she squeaked out, and mentally cursed herself for her voice cracking on the simple word.

"Thank you for telling me this," he continued in that soft tone, "I know that couldn't have been easy for you. To spill what seems like the deepest secret you have, as far-fetched as it is…but I also know that you were telling me the truth. Even you're not that good a liar." Here he tried a small, reassuring smile that Mary wasn't sure she was all that reassured by.

"Well, as long as you believe me," she mumbled.

"I don't think you have any direct involvement with Kira, if that's what you were thinking."

She looked up at him through her lashes. "I really wish you weren't so smart, Ryuzaki-kun. Such a pain." She mocked sighed; the nerves from earlier evaporating like a puff of smoke. She'd never before felt such intense relief. _I guess I care more about what he thinks of me than I thought. _

"Though this is a serious problem," L said, flipping through her notebook. "If this Death Note really can kill, and if both Kira's are in possession of them as you say, then we must find them." He stood up, moving to the monitors which displayed their three 'prisoners.' Misa Amane had recently begun to act as if she had no memory of being captured under the suspicion of being the second Kira, which they had both seen as sign as something was wrong.

Now that L knew about shinigami, she took the opportunity to tell him how just the day before, Misa's shinigami had disappeared and had yet to return, but Light-kun's was still hovering with him in his cell.

"Hmm, what could that mean?" L mumbled, biting his thumbnail.

"I don't know," Mary said, "But I think it may have to do with why Misa's suddenly thinking you're some kind of perverted stalker."

"I believe you're right, Mary-chan. Do you know what these Death Notes look like?"

She shook her head. "No, but if they're anything like the shinigami book I have, then they're gonna be thin and obviously not like anything found in the human world."

"Where could you have hidden it, Light Yagami?" he whispered, more to himself than anyone else. And Mary knew he was now off in his own head somewhere, working out a theory to their new problem.

Mary herself was too exhausted to care—she was just grateful her friend didn't seem to mind she was basically a freak of nature.


End file.
